Hon. Mark Gerretsen · TranslatePolitics.ca

Government Orders

Business of Supply

2026-06-08

“Stop complaining. You didn't win the last election. Canadians don't like your party's approach. Think about that this summer.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, the member cannot run out there and act as though the sky is falling one day, and then a week later pretend that there is no news, because it is completely contradictory. Conservatives can heckle all they want on this. They can disagree with me. They can challenge me. They can do whatever they want. The reality of the situation is that this is the narrative that is out there. This is what the vast majority of Canadians see when they see the games the Leader of the Opposition plays. Unfortunately, it is my position that what the Conservatives are doing today is just continuing to play into that narrative of “The sky is falling”, without being genuinely reflective of what is really going on and the reality of the situation. They can hem and haw, roll their eyes and say that I have no idea what I am talking about, but I would encourage them to be a little self-reflective and to try to figure out if they can sort out why they did not win the last election and why they continue to be so low in the polls. It is because of the Leader of the Opposition and the way he continues to go on and on, the games he plays, and the things he does. Canadians are just not buying it anymore. The Conservatives do not need to like it, but that is the reality of the situation. They hopefully can take some time this summer to reflect on what their strategy should be moving forward, because as we have seen over the last number of years, the strategy they are currently using, which led to today's opposition motion, is not a successful one. I do not think it ever will be. I hope they can learn from that and figure out that there is something they can contribute to the House and to democracy, but it is not going to be with the approach they have been taking and, in particular, the approach the Leader of the Opposition is taking.

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“I'm filling time with kind words and saying nothing anyone could pin down later.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to the opposition motion. At the outset, I must say that I have sat in the House for a fair bit today, listening to the debate. I cannot help but reflect on some of what I have been hearing as a result of some of the news that was received regarding the economy: a sense of almost excitement or gleefulness that comes from the Conservatives as they celebrate the opportunity to try to make a bigger issue out of news and turn this into a partisan issue rather than trying to genuinely help. I am being heckled, but I will read something from Fred DeLorey, a former Conservative campaign manager. About three or four days ago, while he was being interviewed on CBC, he said, “it's dangerous politics to be going out here claiming the sky is falling, when in a month's time or two months' time, when the next numbers come out, it shows that it isn't. It was a week later.... Job numbers are better than they were last quarter. We have the C.D. Howe Institute coming out and arguing, and other economists saying, it's not a recession.” I am not talking about some Conservative operative from the 1980s or 1990s. I am talking about the campaign manager who led the Conservative Party of Canada's national campaign just two elections ago, and that is what he said. He is being extremely critical of the approach that the Leader of the Opposition is taking to this issue, running out and trying to proclaim that the sky is falling. Let us look at the timeline. Mr. DeLorey is looking at the timeline too and reflecting on it in the quote I read out. The timeline is this. On Friday, May 29, the first-quarter growth numbers came out, and the growth for Canada was -.04%. It does show that it is negative growth. Two consecutive negative-growth quarters means that we are in a recession. Why are the Conservatives clapping? This is exactly what I was talking about. They jump on an opportunity. They start clapping at the idea that the economy is not doing as well as it otherwise could have been doing. This is what ended up happening. The Leader of the Opposition, on a Friday morning, ran out one of the main doors of this building, held an emergency press conference and said that there is a massive, full-scale recession and it is all the Liberal Prime Minister's fault. He went on and on. The Leader of the Opposition attacked a reporter for asking a basic question. One of the reporters said that some economists are not saying that what he is saying is true, and the reporter asked if he was jumping the gun a bit. He attacked the reporter and asked what outlet the reporter was with. These are totally Trump-style attacks. Some hon. members: Oh, oh! Hon. Mark Gerretsen: Mr. Speaker, this is exactly what happened. Regardless of the Conservatives' heckling, it happened in front of this building on a Friday morning. The Leader of the Opposition could not wait 30 minutes to digest the numbers. He had to do it immediately. Let us fast-forward to this past Friday, June 5, when we found out the job numbers in the report for May. There were almost 90,000 net new jobs in Canada, which contributed to a decrease in unemployment. Full-time employment skyrocketed. There was significant economic growth in many sectors. What did the Leader of the Opposition do? Did he run outside and hold another press conference? No, he did not. He is literally in hiding. He disappeared. He has not said a word. Some hon. members: Oh, oh! Hon. Mark Gerretsen: Mr. Speaker, by the way, as my colleagues across the way heckle me on this, I have not heard his speech today. When is he going to give a speech on this? He has not said a single word on this issue. He literally does not want to address this. Some hon. members: Oh, oh! Hon. Mark Gerretsen: Mr. Speaker, should I call my own point of order on this? At some point you have to step in. The Leader of the Opposition has not said even a single word about it. It is one thing if he wants to claim one day that the sky is falling, but a week later he cannot even reflect on the fact the job numbers are better and the economy might not be in that full-scale recession he tried to paint a week earlier. My colleagues are having a hard time listening to me, so why do I not go back to Fred DeLorey, the campaign manager from two elections ago. By the way, a number of Conservatives sitting in the House ran for office when he was the Conservative campaign manager. This is what he said just three or four days ago: “It's problematic when you choose to go down that road that [the Leader of the Opposition] has chosen to go down so aggressively, almost like he's rooting for a recession. I understand partisan politics very well. You know, I'm a tribal Conservative. I want to win the next election. Three years before an election, screaming that the sky is falling every week is not how you do it.” These are the words of a former Conservative campaign manager, who ran the 2021 election for the Conservative Party of Canada and who full-on went on CBC news and announced to the world that the Leader of the Opposition is, in his words, “rooting for a recession.” That is what we are dealing with. The Leader of the Opposition cannot think that he is ever going to be the leader of a country, when he runs out there one day and claims that the sky is falling, that everything is coming to an end and that we have the most dramatic economic downfall in Canadian history, then a week later keeps his mouth completely— An hon. member: Mr. Speaker, I am rising on a point of order.

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“I want to nitpick about one number instead of answering your real point about struggling families. 90,000 new jobs is good news so I want to talk about that. I'm not going to address anything else you said.”

Official Hansard

Madam Speaker, I know the member read her speech, but perhaps she wrote it last week because the number that she used for Canada's unemployment in her speech does not reflect the new number that came out on Friday. She might want to update her numbers. She might also want to reflect on the fact that the report that came out last Friday showed that Canada had a net increase of 90,000 jobs in May, that full-time work surged and that sectors across the economy have grown. I am curious. Notwithstanding the fact that she may have written that speech on Wednesday of last week, why did nothing in the 10-minute speech she just provided talk about the new report that came out on Friday, which showed that there was a significant improvement in May alone?

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“I want you to make her say she is sorry twice. I want her to obey you without arguing.”

“You said something wrong. You should say sorry and take it back. No excuses.”

“I want the other Member to take back what she said because it's not allowed. I think this is serious. The other guy shouldn't laugh.”

“You look silly if you call everything a disaster right before good news comes out. My opponents campaign manager said it himself: good numbers are already back. You called it a recession too soon.”

“You're attacking us for picking only good numbers. But you ignored good jobs numbers that help us. That's hypocritical. I want you to explain your unfair debating.”

Official Hansard

I am sorry, Madam Speaker, did the member miss half his speech? Maybe he should not have shared his time. He accused Liberals of cherry-picking data and then focused on one report from nine days ago, but seemingly missed the entire report that came out on Friday of last week, in which it was identified that Canada has seen an increase of 90,000 jobs, unemployment has dropped, full-time work has surged and sectors across the economy have grown. It is fascinating that the member got up in this House and accused the government of cherry-picking data, and the member actually used that word, but then did not even bother to utter one word about the incredible news for our economy that came out last Friday. I am wondering if he would like to somehow explain to this House how, in his debate, he completely missed that point.

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Government Orders

Protecting Victims Act

2026-06-04

“I want to criticize the Conservatives for delaying many bills, not just this one. They delay bills too often and no one will notice when they have a real concern. Maybe the Conservatives should save their delay tactics for when they really need them.”

Official Hansard

Madam Speaker, I find it really amusing to listen to Conservatives talk about games being played in the House when they are literally the party that hid people behind the curtain during a very important vote months ago. Would the minister not agree with me that, time after time, we see the Conservatives refusing to let legislation through, so we have to eventually use a tool like this to advance it? If they were more selective and did their filibustering tactics every once in a while, it might hold a bit more credibility. The problem is that they do it at every single opportunity, so with every single bill, it seems like this is the only way to keep it advancing forward. We will get to the point where the public does not even realize what is going on anymore because the Conservatives do it every single time. Would the minister not agree that the Conservatives' approach and strategy would probably be a bit more productive if they were a bit more selective in choosing when to use the tool of filibustering to prevent and delay legislation from moving forward?

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Government Orders

Business of Supply

2026-06-02

“We made a ministry. We are very serious about AI. I want to say my government wants to safely use AI. We want to protect Canadians. We want to use AI to its full potential to go after the Conservatives.”

“I want to say my party is responding to an uncertain world. We are setting up to have a diverse economy that doesn't rely too much on one trading partner. I have confidence in our leader to do this. I want to say the opposition leader is not a good alternative.”

“Nice try. I don't use scripts or notes when I speak. I spoke from the heart, only glancing at my phone for a few lines. But during question period, the other parties read pre-written questions 70% of the time. Who writes those? For me, I stand here and speak my mind without help or notes.”

“I want to help that Conservative. I criticized his party but I wasn't just talking about myself. Of course I care about Canadians too. He should listen to my helpful advice.”

“I don't like the Conservatives' attack strategy. Canadians don't want that approach. Conservatives should stop attacking and provide solutions instead.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, this is literally what the response was that I got from AI about the motion. Word for word, it said, “This motion is built for maximum rhetorical punch, not factual or analytical strength. The motion collapses complex economic indicators into a simplistic, worse-than-the-G7 narrative, cherry-picks metrics without context and demands an impossible remedy that has no coherent policy meaning.” I hear my friend from Saskatchewan across the way criticizing AI. I would remind him to tread lightly in this area, given the fact that I am pretty certain at least 70% to 80% of the questions asked during question period by the Conservatives are generated by AI, before he goes down that path of trying to be critical of it. I can understand why he does not like listening to what was generated as a response, but it is the reality of the situation. The real irony is not that AI spit out the obvious and what everybody already knows. What it really comes down to is that this is exactly what Canadians are feeling right now in watching the Leader of the Opposition's response to what has happened. Let us just take ourselves back to Friday morning when Statistics Canada released information that we were in a technical recession by a declining growth of, listen to this, negative 0.03%. We are talking about a really small percentage. The Leader of the Opposition jumped on this news like it was the biggest gift he has ever received. He was so gleeful about it. He gathered whoever he could from his caucus who remained here on a Friday; they usually disappear halfway through question period on a Thursday. He dragged them out in front of this building, lined them up behind himself at 9:30 a.m. and gave a press conference with a gigantic smile on his face. He was so excited by this news. Imagine being a member of this House, one of the 343 members, let alone the Leader of the Opposition, and taking such joy in knowing that Canadians are suffering? That is exactly what we saw from him. That is not even where it ended, because it got even worse than that. Rightly so, a reporter from The Hill Times asked the Leader of the Opposition, on the topic of the economy, “Might you be going a little too far with this by suggesting that this is a massive, colossal economic situation?” The Leader of the Opposition, the member for Battle River—Crowfoot, started laughing at the reporter and said, “Of course you are making excuses for the Prime Minister. What outlet are you from?” The reporter said The Hill Times, and the Conservative leader said, “Oh, yeah, The Hill Times.” What I find so utterly amazing is that Conservatives, much less the Leader of the Opposition, are unable to recognize that their strategy may have been really effective in 2024, but with everything going on in the world right now, with the way that the U.S. is positioning itself against us right now and is treating us like an economic enemy at times, and with the sense of incredible pride that Canadians have in wanting to stick together and fight this together, the Conservatives still think that it is a winning strategy to talk down Canadians, to talk down the Prime Minister and to talk down the position we are in. I can wonder all day long about why the Conservatives think this is an effective strategy, why they are doing this and why they have not realized that their 2024 tactics are just falling on deaf ears right now. People do not even have to listen to me. They do not even have to consider the fact that I am bringing this to their attention. They can just look at the fact that it is reflected in the polling. It is reflected in the decision in the last election. Canadians do not want the Conservatives. They do not want that rhetoric. They do not want that style of approach. They do not want a Leader of the Opposition who is going to laugh at reporters, challenge what outlet they are with and then dismiss them. Canadians do not want that. I really wish that my colleagues across the way, who keep heckling me right now, would take a moment to reflect on the fact that maybe there is a little bit of truth to what I am saying. Maybe the Canadian people would like to see humility and would like to see a Leader of the Opposition who actually takes the time to reflect on the world that people live in and does not jump at an opportunity to celebrate it, so that he can say “I told him so” to the Prime Minister on what amounts to a statistical error. An hon. member: Oh, oh! Hon. Mark Gerretsen: Mr. Speaker, it is negative 0.03% of growth. I am sorry. It is catastrophic. Look at them. They are doing it right now. They absolutely refuse. They want to make this the biggest, boldest and absolutely worst thing that could possibly happen. That is the narrative they are going with. I am actually not surprised, because they are just parroting what their leader did on Friday. He went outside this building, and he took the opportunity to celebrate the position that Canada was in. Conservatives can keep doing this. They can do it all day long, but I am telling them right now that this is not selling to the Canadian public. The Canadian public is not buying this. By the way, the Conservatives did this before. What situation did they set up for themselves? Their approach, always, is not asking what they are going to do to improve the lives of Canadians. Their approach is to make the other guy look bad, attack the other guy and beat him or her into submission so that they look like the champions. Guess what? They tried that in 2024. To a certain degree, they were kind of effective at it, but it did not materialize into their forming government, did it? It did not. They just ended up coming right back. It certainly did not result in Conservatives forming government. The key thing they are missing is that, rather than just attack, attack, attack, they have to provide solutions. They have to provide alternatives. I have said this so many times in the House. I am actually trying to give them political advice right now. People back in my war room are probably asking why I will not shut up, because I am telling them what to do, but it is true. I am just trying to help them because I feel like they really, genuinely need it. The reality is that Conservatives are going to keep doing this over and over and over. It is not going to produce anything for them because the reality of the situation is that Canadians are looking for parliamentarians, especially in the world that we live in right now, to work together, to collaborate together, to come up with ideas together and certainly not to celebrate potential downfalls, which is what the Leader of the Opposition and his caucus are doing.

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“I want to look busy while my own party is speaking. I will talk about something else.”

“I say the other party's speeches are bad and written by AI. I asked AI about this motion. AI said the motion is more about rhetoric than facts. It says the motion oversimplifies complex issues. I want the parliamentary secretary to say if he agrees with this AI assessment.”

Official Hansard

Madam Speaker, I know that Conservatives really like AI, because it seems like half of their speeches and questions are written by AI. I am a bit more skeptical. However, while I was sitting here listening to the member speak, I took a picture of the motion and asked AI, “What do you think of this motion?” This is the response I got: “This motion is built for maximum rhetorical punch, not factual or analytical strength. The motion collapses complex economic indicators into a simplistic, worse-than-the-G7 narrative, cherry-picks metrics without context and demands an impossible remedy that has no coherent policy meaning.” I am sure the Conservatives will say that this is our woke Liberal AI. Can the parliamentary secretary provide his comments on whether he thinks AI got it right this time?

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“I want you to be more somber. I don't like how happy you seem about bad news.”

Official Hansard

Madam Speaker, it would be a lot easier to take the Conservatives at their word if they did not seem giddy about the fact that we are in the position we are in. On Friday, right after Statistics Canada had announced this news, the Leader of the Opposition ran out, almost excited, like he was happy that we were in this position. He started challenging reporters, when they were basically just asking him questions. A question that was asked by a reporter was whether he was overblowing this a little based on what the economists were saying. The Leader of the Opposition then asked what outlet they were with. Now the Conservatives are going to stand there and accuse us of employing the Donald Trump tactics. Members can look at what they are doing. Does the member not think that perhaps, just a little, the Conservatives are overplaying their hand with this, in the degree of excitement that they are showing for the circumstances that we are in right now?

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Government Orders

Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 2

2026-05-27

“I want to congratulate and thank my colleague for all his hard work on climate change. Even from his very first speech, he has always pushed us to do better. I'm curious what advice he would give to a young person who is just getting started in climate activism.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the time he has spent in the House. I certainly will not forget when he was first elected in 2019. I had been here for four years, and I was sitting in the House when he was about to give his first speech. He turned around to me and said, “Do I start talking now?” He was just getting his feet established here, but it did not take him long to become a force to be reckoned with in the House. I thank him for the time he spent with us and for always pushing the government, for always pushing us individually, to do more and to be more thoughtful when it comes to climate change and what we could do. He always pushed us to do better no matter the circumstances. The member opened his speech by talking about a young 20-year-old who travelled for the first time to engage in activities around climate change. What would he say today to that young 20-year-old to give him advice?

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Government Orders

2026-05-26

“Let's just copy our votes from last time and not debate this again. All the Liberals say yes.”

Statements by Members

Queen's University

2026-05-26

“I want the government to spend more money on the university in my riding. Universities are good. My riding's university is very good. The government should give it more money. The university does things that align with government priorities. The government should definitely give it more money.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to welcome leaders from Queen's University to Parliament Hill. Founded in 1841 in Kingston, well before Confederation, Queen's has a long tradition of academic excellence and public service, helping shape generations of leaders in Canada and beyond. Today, it remains a national leader in research, innovation and education, with work that aligns closely with Canada's priorities. Its contributions in areas such as defence research, advanced technologies and high-performance computing are helping strengthen our security, competitiveness and innovation capacity. Through strong partnerships and commitment to excellence in science, engineering and talent development, Queen's plays an important role in keeping Canada resilient and looking forward in a rapidly changing world. I thank the delegation for their leadership and engagement and wish them a productive visit.

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